Chapter Thirteen: Won and Lost
Discreetly, Liz rejoined her family for the volleyball tournament, feeling as though she were floating on a cloud of euphoria. Even when they competed against the Murtaughs and she tried her hardest to beat them, she couldn't help but smile every time she thought of what had just happened. The little flower on her finger got damaged during the game, but she didn't care – it was the thought that counted.
Finally, her individual event – the freestyle – came up and she slipped into the water, sending a cocky wink in Daniel's direction as he joined her in the water with the other competitors. Instead of a lap system to measure the length, the judges had set up a line of buoys approximately fifty yards away that would mark the end of the race. Liz surveyed it intently. This was going to be hard without decent push-off or flip-around points. "Ready?" Mike called out. Immediately, the swimmers fitted their goggles and hunkered down in the water. "Get set!" Liz tensed for the gunshot. "GO!"
At the sound of the gunshot, Liz bent at the knees and jumped into a shallow surface dive, propelling her body forward with a halfway-decent takeoff. All sounds and sights were suddenly lost to her as she allowed herself to be wrapped up in the world of water. She heard only the slice of her arms through the waves and ragged gasps of her own breathing, felt only the liquid silk of the water against her legs, and saw only the sparkle of the sun on the splashes she flipped up with each stroke. Suddenly screams punctuated her watery silence, causing her to lift her head to look around. Surprised, she saw no buoys in front of her. Then, turning around, she saw them wobbling gently in the wake of the swimmers. Beside her, Daniel surfaced and shook the water from his face. She had placed first, while Daniel had come in only a hair's breadth behind her. The crowd erupted in screams and cheers as they applauded the swimmers. Treading water, Daniel turned to her and extended his hand for her to shake briefly. "Congratulations, Liz. You brought us even."
It took Liz a moment to figure out that he was referring to the scoreboard for the Cup. The Murtaughs and the Bakers had won four events each while the Millers had won three. They were tied for the Cup! The family rowboats paddled out to pick up their tired swimmers and Liz gratefully allowed Charlie and Bud to haul her out of the water. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Calvin and Anne pulling Daniel up, while beyond them, Braddock and Kelly heaved a disgruntled Rachel – who'd come in last – into their rowboat.
"Spectacular!" Mike cried into the mike as Liz accepted a towel and a kiss from her mother and began to rub herself dry. Sarah stood close by with her older sister's jean capris and sporty tank top readily on hand. "For the first time in twenty-six years, we have a tie for the Labor Day Cup! The Millers will take third place, and to decide the winner, the Bakers and the Murtaughs will have a canoe to the state forest end of the lake and back. Now, all family members must participate."
"Uh," Tom interrupted, "Mike, I got a daughter who's due in a week. She-she can't do that."
"I'm sorry Tom, you'll have to talk to Jimmy. Maybe you can work something out."
Jimmy shrugged his shoulders. "Looks like you'll have to forfeit, Tom," he said. Behind him, Liz could see Calvin frown and shake his head in disgust, while Anne's shoulders seemed to droop ever so slightly. Her own anger flared and she reflexively clenched her fists. How could he be so unfair? It wasn't like it would be all that hard to have Nora sit out while the rest of them competed. What difference would it make?
Tom nodded in defeat. "Look, she can't do it." Grudgingly, he extended his hand to Jimmy. "Congratulations Jimmy."
"Whoa, whoa," Nora suddenly interjected, breaking away from Bud to approach her father. "I'm goin' Dad," she said firmly. Turning toward Jimmy, she came up to him, smirked, and jabbed her finger into his chest. "You just pissed off a severely hormonal pregnant woman." She spun to face the rest of her family. "Let's do this!" she cried, raising her fists above her head. Cheers broke out from the Baker clan as they ran to the dock to gather up their life jackets and oars. Liz smiled affectionately at her older sister and took her arm, pulling her aside.
"Are you sure about this, Nora?" she asked.
Nora gave her a hard look. "Don't mess with me right now, Lizzy."
Liz grinned. "Wouldn't dream of it." She fell back as her siblings filed in front of her, followed by the younger Murtaughs. Ahead of her, Charlie stopped beside Anne, both pretending to stretch while Anne shared some tactical information. Liz grinned. Allies against their fathers. This was going to be interesting. A light touch brushed the small of her back as Calvin slipped by her, trailing his fingers across her arm and giving her a sly wink. She felt the familiar swooping sensation in her stomach and quickly followed after him to pick up her own life vest and oar. Once she situated herself in the canoe in front of Nora and next to Charlie, she dipped her oar in the water, watching the droplets slide off the polished surface.
"Ready?" Mike called.
"MURTAUGH!" Liz glanced over to see the whole Murtaugh family sitting stick-straight with their oars poised in front of them.
"Get set!"
"MURTAUGH!" As one, the Murtaughs brought their oars into the water and glanced at the Bakers, who were staring at them in astonishment.
"Go!" Mike screamed, firing the gun at the same moment.
As one, both canoes began to move and Liz threw all her weight into each stroke. As they raced across the lake, both canoes stayed within one length of each other until slowly, inexorably, the Bakers began to pull closer and finally, ahead. It was at that precise moment that Liz felt water trickle over her toes. "I think we're taking on water!" Bud announced.
Behind her, in a quiet, shaky voice, Liz heard Nora say, "It's me."
She whipped around as Bud paled. "Nora's having her baby!" she cried at the same time that he did. Instantly, chaos reigned and the Baker children screamed in panic. What were they going to do? They were in the middle of a lake!
Tom stood and waved his oar. "Jimmy! Jimmy!"
Several of the Murtaughs looked behind them and pulled in their oars, but Jimmy did not stop. Instead, he pushed them to row harder.
"I don't believe it!" her father muttered in astonishment.
"Dad!" Mark called from the prow of the canoe. "If we cut through here, the road's not too far! Maybe we can get her to the hospital in time!"
"Can you get us there?" Tom asked frantically.
"Hello-o, Nature Boy, remember?" Mark retorted in an obvious "duh!" tone.
"Alright kids!" Tom addressed his family, "For the shore! Hurry!"
As she paddled furiously for the shore, Liz chanced a last glance at the Murtaugh's canoe, shrinking as it rowed away from them. Come on, Jimmy! she pleaded inwardly, Just this one time, would it hurt you to think to help? But the canoe continued to paddle away until it disappeared around the other side of an island. Shaking her head, she focused on helping bring the canoe to the shore.
Once they reached the shore, Bud and Kate helped get Nora out of the canoe while Charlie steadied his mother and Liz herded her siblings back away from the edge of the lake. She helped them slip their life jackets off and toss them in a heap by the rocks before sinking down on the rock beside her twin. As Kate talked to Nora, attempting to keep her calm, Liz sagged against Charlie's shoulder. Suddenly she jumped in surprise as a hand came down on hers and Charlie's shoulders. They spun in unison to see Anne standing behind them, dripping wet and breathing hard. "What's happening?" she asked, "Is she all right?"
"She's delivering lakeside, but yeah, she's fine," Charlie replied through his surprise. "Did-did you swim all the way over here?"
Anne could only nod. "How can I help?" she managed to get out after a few deep breaths.
"Oh, honey," Kate said, noticing her presence for the first time. "You can help with Nora."
"Hey, Baker!" Jimmy hailed from his canoe, while all of his children climbed wearily from the water, "What's going on?"
Liz stood and caught Calvin's hand as he worked his way toward her over the rocks. He smiled gratefully at her and moved close enough to slide his hands around her waist. "What happened?" Liz asked, glancing over the thoroughly wet Murtaugh children.
"There was a little family mutiny," he admitted. "We all jumped ship, but I guess Sarina brought Dad around, 'cause he's here, too."
Liz grinned and met his eyes shyly. "It's about time."
"Come on!" Mark cried, tearing off into the woods with Kenny, followed closely by Eliot, Sarah, the youngest twins, and the rest of both families.
Charlie and Bud carried Nora while, with a quick glance at each other, Liz and Calvin slipped in front of them and hurried the lagging kids along. At one point, just before they reached the road, Calvin scooped up a lagging Robin and carried her for a few hundred feet before they caught sight of the road. Once on the flat, hard surface, many of the younger kids broke into a full-out run, while Liz, Calvin, Daniel, Lorraine, and Anne increased their pace to an easy jog. Soon enough, the hospital came into view and both families swarmed into the building. In the enclosed space, the noise reached an almost unbearable level, and Liz felt her head swimming from the echoes and the speed that events were taking place. The baby wasn't supposed to come for another week! was the onlythought she could get through her head.
Finally, things were sorted out; Nora got a wheelchair – much to Charlie and Bud's relief – Lorraine and Kate went into the delivery room to help out, and the rest of the family retired to the waiting room to wait. Much to her pleasure, the Murtaughs also decided to wait with them.
Yeah, I know, not the smoothest, best chapter, but I have to get through this to get to the rest of the story. It may be a little while before I update again. (Then again, maybe not. I never know when I'll find the time.) Review Please!